Ofsted success for village primary school

A Mid Devon village school has been praised by education inspectors for making learning enjoyable and achieving above average standards.

They have rated Rackenford primary as a good school across the board.

They say the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils is good, as is the behaviour and safety of the children and the leadership and management.

Pupils say the school is ‘brilliant’ because the teachers make it fun to learn, report the inspectors from the school standards agency Ofsted.

Lead inspector Andrew Saunders says: “Pupils reach standards which are above average, particularly in reading, writing and maths.

“Pupils say they are expected to work hard and make good progress as a result. Achievement is good.

“Attendance is now high because pupils enjoy being at school.

“Parents indicate their children feel safe at school and thoroughly enjoy school.

“Pupils are polite and kind to one another. Older pupils, in particular, like helping younger pupils and provide good models of behaviour in the playground and in their learning.”

Inspectors spent two days at the Church of England primary last month and their report has just been published.

Rackenford has a formal partnership with Tiverton High School which provides support for teaching and administration as well as leadership and is also part of the wider Tiverton Co-operative Learning Partnership.

Mr Saunders says children make a good start to their education in the Early Years Foundation Stage because they enjoy their learning and make good progress.

Executive head, Andrew Lovett, has ensured the leadership of the school is well developed and able to provide guidance, support and example to improve teaching. As a result there is no weak teaching in the school.

“Teachers’ own attitudes and the school’s values help pupils to have a positive approach towards their work,” he says.

“Pupils are keen to work hard and try to produce their best.

“The curriculum makes good use of the local environment, resources in the school and opportunities within the Trust.

“The close links with the secondary school and the good arrangements for pupils to learn more about life and learning in a much bigger school mean that pupils face this change with confidence.

“Governance is effective because the governors care a great deal about the success and life of the school and share the vision for high-quality education and opportunities for the pupils.”

Mr Saunders says Rackenford can become an even better school by further developing its teaching so that it is outstanding and ensuring the progress of pupils is more rapid.

Teachers should ensure pupils show more determination to improve their work for themselves by responding to comments in the marking and bringing boys’ writing up to the standard of the girls.

Mr Lovett said: “I am very pleased that the work of the staff, led by Head of Teaching and Learning Claire Joyce, has been recognised.

“They make Rackenford a school to be proud of.”

Helen Hyland, chair of governors, said: “The new Ofsted standards have made it much harder to reach ‘good ‘ than it used to be and our partnership with Tiverton High School and the support provided over the last year have been key in making this possible.

“We are very grateful to our executive head, Andrew Lovett, for his leadership.”